Selected Functional Movement Assessment

At Back in Action Physical Therapy, we believe in staying current with evidence while treating individuals based on their deficits and needs. While traditional physical evaluations do an excellent job of identifying the painful tissue we know that the painful tissue is typically not the SOURCE of the pain. Therefore, we adopted the functional movement approach to enable us to breakdown those movement patterns to find a mobility or motor control problem. While our approach lengthens our evaluation process, it can dramatically cut down the treatment time required to SOLVE the problem that is causing the pain. This assessment method is used in any age group for any activity level for all humans that move. This system is currently being used by collegiate and professional sports teams but is also very applicable for the average Joe like you and me. This assessment method is not what is used to assess sports performance, it measures the basic needs of functional movement which is the foundation of sports performance but also the basic needs for activities daily living. This is why it works for the general population as well as for the elite athlete. The information below is information provided from Functional Movement Systems.

THE SYSTEM

Functional Movement Systems is a company with a mission to help people move better and then move often. The philosophy was introduced in 1995, at a time when there was no systematic tool to identify movement asymmetries or major limitations in functional movement patterns.

The system promotes collaboration between performance and rehabilitation professionals through the use of two tools – the Functional Movement Screen™ and the Selective Functional Movement Assessment™. Both tools evaluate movement but are separated by a clear distinct marker. That marker is pain. If movement produces pain, the individual would be sent through SFMA. If pain is not present, then the FMS is the appropriate tool.

WHY FUNCTIONAL MOVEMENT SYSTEMS

Movement Matters: Movement quality is an essential component to reducing the risk of injury and reaching optimal levels of performance.

Systematic Approach: A reliable baseline to screen and evaluate movement is key to providing actionable and effective steps for performance and recovery.

Communication: The system allows for performance and rehabilitation professionals to speak the same language when communicating client progress and treatment.